Community Football

I have been regularly attending the Saturday community football at OSC. Many children from different schools such as the British School, Elizabeth Moir school and the Asian international school come here to play football. This has really been an excellent way for me to interact with other members of the community and with many different types of people. We have at least people from 20 different nationalities taking part! It is important to treat this Saturday football as a way to learn new things and learn how to interact with others. Every week new teams are made and different players who like playing in different positions are put in one team. Being a senior and the captain of the OSC football team it is important for me to take up a leadership role and help the team i am in each week, to collaborate and function smoothly so we operate as a unit. I have learnt that it is not an easy job to get everyone to follow the ideas you are suggesting. Since no one is obliged to follow my instructions it becomes extra challenging for me to implement my leadership skills, however so far i have been very successful. I have also tried playing in a new position, that of striker, and i have been very successful so far scoring 21 goals in my last 6 games, of course the goals are slightly easier to score in community football. As i am representing my school in this activity it is also important that i consider the implications of my every action and maintain the image of the school. There were for example a few instances where i lost my cool and started yelling at some other players. This has however made me grow as a leader as i have come to realize my mistakes and it is these mistakes and the learning process from them that helps to prevent such incidents in the future. Saturday football is also about making new friends from different schools, from within and outside the local community. I have made a couple of Sri Lankan friends who share their views on each match and their general likes and dislikes. This helps me gain a better understanding of other people's views and ideas.